Happy days...

(Fixing the Roof and the children of KG1 and KG2 enjoying lunch)

Week 18

The first day back, with a roof on three of the classrooms, I was more excited than the children! I jumped around pointing and running around from classroom to classroom. The kids too, seemed different now that they are separated by walls, and have windows and a door and everything! It makes a change from teaching under the trees, where the goats and chickens used to join in lessons every five minutes, and every falling leaf, or passing lizard was a distraction.


It makes me feel so happy to be a part of the life of these kids. I know they won't remember me, but I will always remember them and especially the day they got their roof!

We have been fetching water in the evenings this week, as we not only lost power several nights, but water too... The nearest bore hole that was working (pump) is over the hill and round into the next village, and even better, when we went to fetch water it was muddy everywhere, we just knew it would be a messy event! A lot of people were shocked that we were joining in with carrying water on our heads as they expected us to send someone else to get it.

At the centre, Charlotte has been recieving some lessons from Lawrence and Sly on the Culture and Social background of Ghana, with a bit of help from Irene. It fills in the pieces of the puzzle about the country that we don't know about, and also helps the culturalm practices make more sence.

The work on the centre has involved building steps into the ground by the school this week as the rains have been eroding the paths and changing the shapes of the whole area. The steps may not be permanent, but will last for at least a decade, and keep the children safe when they are playing around. It also looks so neat now it has been done.

There has been more block moulding now, and we all feel confident that we are getting stronger. It was so tough in the beginning to lift a block or move the wheelbarrow, and now we are competing with the guys from the Culture group!

The whole area around the centre is having a bit of a face lift and we have been weeding the grounds too. There are tonnes of mosquitos breeding in the hole we dug for the safety tank, that bite your ankles while doing the weeding, but its good hard work. I feel like I am gaining all sorts of hands on skills here!

I used my pac a mac for the first time this week, the rains have invaded so much. It was fun for me, but so many street traders lose business during this time due to people staying in and avoiding the rain if they can. I am sure whatever novelty factor is at work right now it will wear off for me in a few weeks too!

(written by Lucie)